Naruto: Falcon's Legacy
by Lil Biatch
Summary: Kakashi calls for back-up in the Land of Waves, knowing full well who will come to help him: Ryu Suzaku. But what will happen if this strange new shinobi decides he needs a successor? Crossover with... well, Smash Bros, I guess.
1. Eternal Rivals!

Chapter 1: Eternal Rivals!

"Yosh!"

"Your enthusiasm is appreciated."

"I have never seen someone so Youthful! The attire, the laps around Konoha, the pure Youthfulness! We should compete, to Fan the Flames of our…"

"…youth, I'm guessing."

"Yosh!"

"Um, if you say so." The stranger that Gai had encountered flashed a grin at him. "Fancy a race?"

"Yosh! How Youthful! If I should fail, I shall climb the Hokage Mountain seven times on only one leg!"

Famous last words.

* * *

Gai came to, only to see the stranger grinning at him.

"You only made up and down it five times. But I won't mention it if you won't."

Gai immediately recognised the stranger, and quickly put his deceptively perceptive mind to work. This stranger had taken an extensive lead in their little challenge with little to no effort. Then Gai had dropped his weights, and gained only a little. Getting frustrated (only his Eternal Rival could beat him this bad, dammit!) he opened a chakra gate.

Or three.

When the stranger greeted him at the finishing point by impatiently tapping his foot, Gai had to wonder why a man in unfeasibly baggy trousers flashed through his mind, and decided to speak to get the image doing the Running Man out of his head.

"You are truly in The Springtime of Youth! But comrade, you must tell me how you got so fast! Such Youthfulness must be shared!"

Gai watched as the man seemed to consider this for a bit, before breaking out into a bittersweet smile, and answering in a tone to match is expression:

"My old sensei taught me."

"Yosh! Then we will go to your old sensei, so he can share how you got your Youthful pace!"

Gai watched as the smile turned into a grimace, and used his perception to understand what may have happened. Life expectancies were often short in the life of a shinobi, and the people whose lives they touched had to live on. Unfortunately, Survivors Guilt was not an uncommon problem among the ninja population.

Actually…

* * *

Ryu Suzaku, relatively new chuunin of Konoha, was excited. It wasn't everyday you get to test your skills against elite jonin, after all. Currently, he was now at Training Ground 13 with the self-proclaimed Beautiful Blue Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai, and his Eternal Rival, Hatake Kakashi. In truth, he liked Gai. He was entertaining, and in terms of energy levels, comparable to him. Kakashi, however, seemed to be indifference personified, which irked him, for some reason. As he leaned against a tree reading his Icha Icha Paradise, he seemed to do the impossible: tune out Gai while he spouted sermons on the Power of Youth. Which of course, caused the green-spandex clad man to spout sermons on Kakashi's 'hip and modern attitude'.

"Yosh!"

There he was again.

"My Eternal Rival! I have found someone ablaze with the Fires of Youth!"

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"AH! Damn you and your hip attitude! Anyway, you should spar with him! Competition will only make our Flames of Youth burn brighter!" Gai struck a nice guy pose (did his teeth just _gleam_?) before adding, "Taijutsu only, of course."

Kakashi pushed off the tree and got into a ready position. "If you say so."

"Yosh! Let the spar begin! Though I warn you, his speed is quite something."

Kakashi ignored the warning and peered at the shinobi in front of him over his book. Didn't look like much, really.

"Maa, Ryu-chan." Said man's eye twitched. This man couldn't be more than two years older, grey hair notwithstanding. "I hope you come at me with all you've got. Hopefully, you'll be a challenge."

"Hatake-san, I'll be fine. All I hope," Ryu added, getting into a fighting stance, and sprinkling a little bass into his voice, "is that you Show Me Your Moves!"

With that, Ryu disappeared.

* * *

Kakashi, unlike many human beings, didn't have a secret desire to fly. No, his job provided all the excitement he ever needed: outside of missions, all he'd rather do was read his Icha Icha; go drinking sake with his 'Eternal Rival'; perhaps with the occasional date (that chuunin Kurenai looked good. Maybe…). However, as he soared straight up into the air after being hit with one of the strongest uppercuts he had ever felt, his only comfort was that what went up, must eventually come down. At least, it was until he saw his opponent soar up to meet him, with a mischievous smirk on his face.

So much for that comfort.

Gai watched as his Eternal Rival was tossed around like a rag doll by his new friend using an aerial taijutsu style which he had never seen before. Which is saying something. One handed combos, kicks that defied the laws of physics, and was that a knee? Gai didn't dwell on that too long. All he dwelled on was the fact that Hatake Kakashi, legendary Copy-Nin of Konoha, was getting beaten black and blue by a mere, albeit very Youthful, chuunin. What awed him was the amount of chakra being produced.

Or, mainly, the lack of it.

Yes, Kakashi was being losing in the spar. Yes, Ryu seemed to be using a combination of jumps and his own opponent to do all this in mid air. But there was absolutely no chakra manipulation from Suzaku-san, even for his freakish speed (which hurt his ego a bit, but only proved the chuunin's Springtime of Youth would truly be long). As they landed after a particularly vicious throw, Gai heard the newcomer exclaim…

* * *

"YES! Are you enjoying yourself, Hatake-san?" Ryu asked with a maniac grin.

Kakashi groaned and pulled his aching body up to its full height. Only to have his small orange book bounce off the top of his head.

"Suzaku-san," Kakashi replied, this time giving his adversery his full respect, "you are a lot better than I thought." With this statement, Kakashi pulled up his hiitake to reveal his trump card. "Now I'm going to have to take you seriously."

"Is that," Ryu Suzaku asked with deceptive nonchalance, "what I think it is?" Kakashi inclined his head to indicate that this was, indeed, the Sharingan.

Then the killing intent saturated the air.

Drowning out the unnerved Gai, waxing lyrical about how Unyouthful this was all becoming, Ryu ground out his issues with what had just happened.

"The style that you are about to steal…"

"Copy…"

"No: steal, is a style that has been passed down from generation to generation to only those who are considered truly worthy to wield it. If you presume that you are worthy, then let me tell you two things: you are not, and you will now see how powerful it can be!"

Ryu dashed to his opponent, and hit him with a chakra enhanced kick, the only manipulation he had done all day. The distance wasn't perfect, Kakashi had gone a bit higher that he had expected, but that allowed him a bit of time to complete his inner monologue before charging up the attack that would end the spar. Unless, somehow, he missed.

"FALCON…!"

* * *

It was a good day for Umino Iruka: his paperwork was all done during the kid's lunch; said kids were sat quietly for once as they did the mock test he'd assigned them (yes, even Naruto, somehow); Kurenai had even smiled at him earlier. Yes, Iruka severely doubted that anything could ruin his mood as all seemed to be calm with the world…

And then, chaos.

As Iruka observed the ninja sized hole in the wall (and just about a yard from the open window: honestly!) while Mizuki calmed all the kids down, he wondered what kind of attack would lay Sharingan Kakashi out like this, and whether the kids needed to be evacuated or something. Guessing there was only one way to find out, he asked the slightly singed shinobi what had gone on. All he was able to do was groan something along the lines of "spar" before he passed out. Iruka felt a headache coming on, as he foresaw his free time slipping from his fingers.

And he was going to ask her out tonight and all.

* * *

Sarutobi sighed as he observed the shinobi before him. Hatake Kakashi, who looked like he had been put through an Uchiha firing squad; Maito Gai, who's forlorn expression really looked out of place on his green spandex clad visage; Umino Iruka, who just looked livid, and Ryu Suzaku, his jaw set in stubbornness. He took a puff from his pipe and addressed the three responsible.

"What, exactly, were you thinking?"

Gai made to defend his self-proclaimed eternal rival and the lowest ranked ninja in the room, before Sarutobi interrupted what would no doubt be a rant on youthfulness.

Despite the mellow persona he often projected, he really wasn't in the mood right now.

"Maito Gai, you encountered a new chuunin, one from a different continent, in fact." Gai tried to hide his shock, and failed. Spectacularly. "This, in itself, is commendable. However, you authorised a sparring match with two people not of equal rank. Why did you not step in to stop it?" And there was the kicked puppy look again. It really didn't suit him, especially with the eyebrows. Sarutobi moved on. "Hatake Kakashi, you also know this rule, and yet you engaged the chuunin with lethal force."

"Maa, Hokage-sama, I'd hardly think…"

"You revealed your Sharingan, did you not? Something you have gone on record claiming that you would only use against hostiles. Which brings me to you."

Ryu Suzaku. A man who, according to the team that found him, was moving at speeds which seemed impossible, even for Kage-level nins. Who, when brought in, weaved the most impossible story, so impossible it could only be true. Who, when his skills were tested, his strengths and weaknesses were so patchy; he had to be taught the basics of chakra from scratch.

Today was meant to be his first day after learning all these applications: he had made his bunshin and henge, could kawarmi with the best of them, but the presence of his own personal taijutsu style, and all that raw _speed _without the use of chakra meant he'd be wasted as a genin. Sarutobi took a breath of his pipe to calm himself. If this was the magnitude of the issues he would be facing when Suzaku-kun was left to his own devices, he was in for a permanent headache.

"Ryu Suzaku, your conduct today is serious enough that I will deal with you in private. As it is, your mission pay will be docked until it covers the damage to the academy." Iruka looked delighted, but it was only fair for the transgressions made today. "Gai, Kakashi, Iruka, dismissed."

Iruka walked out with his head held high, a man whose faith in his leader had just been justified. Kakashi made to follow, but was caught by Gai, who started spouting about the Flames of Youth. Again. This left only his newest shinobi there in his office, and once the privacy seals were up, the Sandaime Hokage waste no time.

"Explain."

"Kakashi made to steal my sensei's legacy, and I took offence, Hokage-sama." Ryu paused before getting a satisfied smile on his face. "I decided to give him a taste of what would happen if he actually went through with this treachery."

"Did you not think that maybe revealing an attack that you have desperately tried to keep a secret to the Sharingan would not have side effects?" The Sandaime enquired.

"Like?"

"It being…stolen, as you put it?"

Ryu grinned. "I'd like to see him try." Knowing that probing would probably get him another tall tale, Sarutobi decided to switch gears.

"Antagonising your fellow shinobi is not a good strategy, Suzaku-kun, especially considering you're a foreigner."

"So I'll say sorry later. I admit, I did over react a bit."

Sarutobi's response was incredulous. "A bit? You sent him flying across the village!"

"That move I used…" Ryu seemed to battle with his conscience for a second, before replying. "I underpowered it, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi's pipe dropped out of his mouth at that point. The distance he had sent Kakashi today had equalled the standing record of Tsunade after Jiraiya henged into Dan for an entire day. If that was underpowered…

"Ryu Suzaku, whatever it was you used today, you will swear now to use it only against enemies of the village. Do I make myself clear?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Good. Now, go and make amends with your comrades. They can't have gotten too far..."

* * *

Ryu Suzaku strolled out of the Hokage Tower with an aura of relief. He had thought he had blown it, really. He was just getting used to Konoha as well, though the geneal lack of automobiles unnerved him like crazy. Considering his sensei's connection to them…

Will. Not. Think about that.

He sighed, After the day he had, he needed a drink. He had no intention of finding and apologising to either Kakashi or Gai. At least, not right at that moment. He just wanted to avoid all sights of green spandex and nin-masks for at least a week. As he slumped at the bar, about to order a bottle of sake (you never know when a guest could end up joining you) he wondered what life would be like without the attack happening. Then he berated himself for thinking about that again. Maybe this wasn't the best idea…

"Yosh!"

Bugger.

"My youthful comrade, you should come and join us!" Even though Gai was frantically waving him over, Kakashi looked murderous. How he managed to get that much of a scowl out of one eye was amazing, really. Sighing, Ryu picked up his sake bottle, and placed it on the table of jonin. He decided to address the masked nin exuding a slight killer intent.

"Peace offering." No change in posture from Kakashi. "I'm sorry about earlier, my sensei and the style he taught me is still a bit of a sore point for me." Still no response from Hatake-san. Ryu was getting desprate. Gai saw this, and decided to intervene.

"My Eternal Rival, your behaviour is Most Unyouthful! Acting like this…" Ryu decided to roll his eyes as Gai built up a head of steam, and just like that, the killing intent disappeared, and Kakashi looked up from his orange book.

"Were you two saying something?"

"AH! Your Modern Attitude strikes again, Kakashi! The Springtime of Youth…"

As Gai went off on a tangent again, Kakashi looked up and gave Ryu the smallest of eye smiles. Somehow, he knew he was not only forgiven, but respected as well. He had just made his first two friends in Konoha.

He could grow to like it here.

"…AND THUS, THERE SHALL BE A DRINKING COMPETITION TO FAN THE FLAMES OF OUR YOUTH!"

Yep, he could _really_ grow to like it here.

"YES!"


	2. Pride Comes Before

Chapter 2: Pride Comes Before...

"Now, Ryu, I want you to channel your chakra into this sheet of paper here…"

"And I still say it will be pointless. My affinity will always be wind and fire."

"Maybe so, but it can't hurt to try. You were using a different energy source back then. Now come on."

Sighing, Ryu Suzaku started to gather his chakra. Suddenly, he stopped.

"Let's make this interesting: if my affinity truly is wind and fire, you'll give up smoking for a week."

"And, if you lose, you give up sake. Done?"

"Done."

Thus, Ryu's chakra was focused and was forced into the paper, which promptly split in half and burst into flame.

While Asuma Sarutobi tried to break the record for the world's biggest sweatdrop, Ryu nabbed his cigarettes.

"Sucker!" he gloated.

* * *

Years passed (I always wanted to write that).

Ryu became accomplished at manipulating both wind and fire chakra, although getting him to use them further than 5 metres away from his body seemed to be a chore, something no one could come up with a decent theory for.

As if it mattered.

In the long run, Ryu's mastery of wind chakra gave him a truly formidable addition to his already impressive Falcon Style of taijutsu. This, along with his raw pace meant that he was often employed for heavy combat missions requiring back-up as quickly as possible.

It wasn't, however, until he was put on a mission with his first friends in Konoha, that he earned a reputation that preceded him.

"So, why are we moving so slowly?"

"For many reasons. For stealth. For our clarity of mind. For the fact that no one can match your 'brisk jog' in the Fire Country."

"Shucks, Kakashi, I'm touched."

"Quiet, Suzaku." Despite the fact that Kakashi had forgiven him for that spar in Training Ground 13, he still would never refer to Ryu by his given name.

"Yosh! Our Flames of Youth will Blind our Unyouthful opponents! They shall be Beaten Back by those in the Springtime of Youth!"

"Kakashi, I thought we were meant to be stealthy?"

"Yep, but you're my subordinate. You have to listen to me."

"Joy."

The mission was to investigate some a large number of Sand missing-nin making a nuisance of themselves on the border of Fire and Wind Country. As the scenery became less green and more sandy, Kakashi decided to call the team to a stop.

"So! My Eternal Rival! What is the plan you have so Youthfully constructed?"

Well, that was new.

Kakashi restrained himself from pretending he hadn't heard, and outlined the plan.

Gai would be heavy combat, taking out as many grunts as possible, with instructions to save a few for Ibiki to have fun with.

Suzaku would pick off the stragglers, and those who tried to make a break for it, because, as Kakashi put it, he was faster than a heroine in his Icha Icha.

Once Kakashi had stopped giggling, he declared that would engage the leader, as there was no way to be able to know his skill level, and Kakashi was versatile enough to adapt. "Plus," Ryu added, "you're the leader, and you want some glory,"

This earned him an eye smile from Kakashi, and a lecture on Unyouthfulness from Gai.

* * *

"Well, it seems we have attracted enough attention to be welcomed properly! Sharingan Kakashi;" he eye smiled, "the Beautiful Blue Beast of Konoha;" he stuck a nice guy pose, "And some chuunin? Your protégé, Maito Gai? Well, at least _he_ isn't colour blind."

That last statement Kakashi to put his face in his hands, Ryu to twitch irritably, and Gai to drop his head dejectedly. The laughing from all others present could not have helped matters.

"For your most unyouthful comments," Gai murmured, "YOU WILL PAY!"

With that, Gai summoned a turtle that flattened half of the missing-nin there. While they looked on in terror, Kakashi leaned in to his subordinate.

"There is a reason why we don't talk about Gai's condition," Kakashi mused. "Now, there's a change of plan. I'll pick off whoever Gai doesn't get, while you get the leader."

"Why?"

"For a couple of reasons. Did you notice his headband?"  
"Not really."  
"He's a Cloud-nin, and not a former one. Considering their current relationship with us, that's quite worrying. In addition, he's getting away."

"What? When?"

"He's quite quick, but you should be able to handle it," Kakashi said wryly. "All I ask is that you bring him in alive."

"Hai, Kakashi-sempai!" With that, Ryu Suzaku disappeared, leaving a couple of shinobi incapacitated in his wake.

* * *

The Cloud-nin grimaced as he made his rapid escape. Their cover had been blown, again. He'd have to report his failure to the Raikage, again. The secrets of the Byuakagen were not Kumogakure's. Again.

Sometimes he hated his job.

"Still," he pondered aloud, "I haven't met a shinobi faster than myself, so it should be impossible for me to be caught…"

Oof.

He recognised the man in front of him as the tree-hugging chuunin from before, his attire almost impossible to forget. How he had gotten here, he didn't particularly wish to know, but if he wanted a fight, by Kami, he would get one!

He eyed his opponent and snarled, getting into a fighting stance. The Leaf-nin smirked, and made a gesture upwards. When his sight cleared, he saw that he had cleared the canopy of the trees. Wind chakra, obviously, but this was the least of his troubles. For his adversary was right up there with him.

This just wasn't his day.

Ryu Suzaku stood over his vanquished foe with more than a little satisfaction. It had been a while since he had a good fight, and though this clown hadn't given him one, he appreciated the chance to stretch his legs. Literally. Because his new Falcon Kick needed to be tried out on someone… Anyway, time to haul him back to Kakashi and Gai. He leaned uncomfortably close to his prisoner.

"Quickest shinobi you've seen, eh? Let me show you the true pace of those who wield the will of the Falcon."

In a flash, he had him over his shoulder, and was gone.

* * *

Worst. Mission. Ever.

Not that it hadn't been a success: quite the contrary. But the fact that when Gai had finished his rampage, he had broken down and started sobbing about how he had given in to the Dark Side of Unyouthfulness. As Kakashi patted his shoulder with as little physical contact as possible, he just prayed that Suzaku was all right.

"Look what I found!"

That should do it.

"Suzaku-kun, well done! Now your next task…"

"Hmm?"

"Get Gai off me before he soaks my flak jacket through!"

* * *

Several months later, after the Cloud jonin had been brought back to Konoha, and released after a session with Ibiki ("You did half my work for me, kid," he muttered to Ryu in a bar later), the new Bingo Books came out. And guess who confronted Ryu about the document's new addition?

"Yosh!"

You guessed it.

"My Youthful Comrade! The Springtime of Youth has shone through and gotten you and entry in the Kumo Bingo Books!"

Ryu did a double take. "Wait, what?"

"Behold!" Gai produced the book with a flourish, with the book already turned to the right page.

"That must've taken practice, Gai."

"Yosh!"

Unsure whether that response was positive or negative, he glanced at the page Gai had opened on. A wistful smile twisted his lips as he saw the nickname, the rank and the bounty he had been given.

"We must all go and celebrate the Flames of your Youth getting you recognised as a B-Rank ninja! Me, the Beautiful Blue Beast of Konoha! My Eternal Rival, the Feared Copy Ninja of Konoha! And you, my Youthful Comrade, the Blue Falcon of Konoha!"

As Gai continued to rant on, Ryu was sure that wherever his sensei was, he was laughing at the irony of it all.

* * *

Several months later, the chickens came home to roost after Ryu's new found notoriety. It started out a normal day, after his lunch break; he was eating his take away barbeque (as you do on a weekend: no one wants to be around when the Akimichi's get there) As he finished picking his teeth, he felt a surge of energy. Which, if all is considered, isn't that strange in a ninja village. He'd be the first to admit that training accidents happened all the time. No, what caught his attention was the size of the surge. And the fact that it wasn't chakra. Ryu wasted no time heading towards the source.

Well, he wasted a bit of time. Like, say, 17 seconds?

Once he was there, he was taken aback. The man's facial expression, posture, and fighting style… only the colour of his attire told Ryu that this wasn't his old sensei stood before him.

Well, that and the fact that he had just strangled a kunochi and roundhouse kicked her straight into the air.

Sensei _never_ hit girls.

No, this was Sensei's clone and killer, the one who had sent him running here in the first place, the man who still occasionally haunted his dreams…

Blood Falcon.

Ryu caught the woman from mid air, laying her down as softly a hyperactive toddler would stroke a cat, and growled out: "You're here for me, aren't you?"

Impassive eyes met passionate ones.

Fists were clenched and fighting stances were taken.

And then, they clashed.

* * *

Anko had seen battles conducted quickly. Her sensei was, after all, one of the legendary sannin, and the only ones strong enough to go toe to toe with him were the others, so she had observed him keep his skills sharp before he had taken his leave. Hell, she even participated sometimes, feeling breathless and out of her depth.

Anko had also seen battles between opponents of the same style. Gentle Fist, Intercepting Fist, Iron Fist, Hebi, Tiger Style… when used against each other, they seemed to interlock, the best users seemed like they were interlocked in a dance. A deadly one, but on no less passionate than those conducted on dance floors.

This, though, was unreal.

After that Juggernaut had disposed of her like she was nothing, and then that… baka… had caught her, then left her on her ass, they had started getting serious. It was plain for all to see to everyone present that the stranger was a berserker intent on destroying everything before him, and that the brave, up-and-coming chuunin would do all he could to stop him. It was clear to Anko, however, that these two had _history_, and not the cute, fuzzy kind that you find in bad romantic comedies.

She only hoped that he could exorcise his demon better than she ever could.

* * *

This was harder than Ryu would have thought possible.

Blood Falcon's fighting style was almost exactly like sensei's, and though he came close to feeling inferior, a couple of factors kept him from taking this view rationally. For starters, this abomination had obviously been expecting him to be rusty.

Nope!

Secondly, this was not the complete Falcon style that his sensei had so meticulously and painstakingly taught him. It was fundamentally altered when used by the impostor, often in the favour of foul play; something that all Falcon users were trained to abhor. Well, if dirty tricks were all Blood Falcon would bring to the table, he would persevere, and show him the Virtues of Hard Work!

Wow. TOO much time spent around Gai.

Which reminded him: he was a shinobi now! He had more than a few tricks up his sleeve that this man was not expecting. With that joyous realisation flashing through his mind, he leapt back and flashed through hand signs.

Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger…

_Katon: Gōkakyu no Jutsu__!_

Blood Falcon leapt over the fireball from Ryu's mouth. The ninja in question smirked: his enemy had done half of the hard work for him. A flip kick later left our hero at the definite advantage, as he began his mid air barrage. A haymaker to his face, a jab to his throat, a burst of wind chakra enhancing the length and power of a kicking combo, before a knee to the mid-section. And now: the hard bit.

Ryu knew how resilient this man was. He had seen his sensei sacrifice his life against this monster, putting his all into the best attack only to see him rise from the flames, like some kind of twisted phoenix, laughing mockingly at his noble sacrifice. Quite frankly, Ryu wasn't entirely sure he was beatable. But now wasn't the time for doubts. Now was the time for action, and as Blood Falcon began to drop, he leapt up to meet him, eyes ablaze with barely restrained fury.

"For sensei! Falcon… PAUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!"

* * *

"Please tell me," Sarutobi muttered, "that what you just demonstrated was _not_ underpowered."

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, I'm in a hospital bed. What do you think?"

Sarutobi sighed, and took a seat. It was three days since the attack of the Juggernaut, as the higher level shinobi had taken to calling it, and a couple of hours since Ryu had regained consciousness. Still, he needed to be debriefed as soon as possible, and so that was why the Sandaime found himself conducting an interrogation on a hospital bed.

Sarutobi was ashamed to say it wasn't the first time, and he doubted it would be the last.

"Had I have known you'd bring me so much trouble when you arrived, I would've never put you on the books of our shinobi."

"Well, I aim to please."

"Suzaku-kun, this is serious. How do we know he won't come back? Last time you only sent Kakashi flying, a long way, admittedly, but…"

"Hokage-sama," Ryu had his jaw clenched, and a look of seriousness Sarutobi had only seen once before. "He killed my sensei. I would never do a half-hearted job in his memory. Besides, I know he's dead. I watched him turn to ashes before my very eyes."

"Ashes?" The Hokage enquired faintly.

"Hai."

"Kami… Ryu Suzaku, from this point forward, your…"

"Falcon Punch?"

"Hai, hai, that, will be considered an S-Rank heavy combat jutsu. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Good." The Sandaime looked at the forlorn figure before him, and decided that he should somehow salvage some positivity from the meeting.

"This man… he killed your sensei?"

"Hai."

"And you killed him."

"Hai."

"So this means you have surpassed your sensei, does it not?"

Ryu seemed to consider the Hokage's logic with awe and a little terror. Sarutobi chuckled, and decided to leave the conversation, and Suzaku-kun's utterly humourous expression there.

His promotion to Tokubetsu Jonin could wait until he was out of the hospital.


	3. Jump and Wave

Chapter 3: Jump and Wave

The B-Class Jonin of Konoha, specializing in heavy combat and speed, known as the 'Blue Falcon' to his enemies, 'The Captain' to his subordinates and Ryu to his friends, was causing those who came into contact with him to leave with an impending sense of doom. The reason? He was bored.

And when Ryu Suzaku announced his boredom, mayhem seemed to follow.

Whether that mayhem was intentional or accidental was a moot point, because the levels of destruction, potential for humiliation and the tendency to anger overrode any kind of inkling as to what was meant by the actions leading to the catastrophic consequences.

After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

It could be various training experiments, combining the techniques of his old sensei with chakra; his hilariously inept attempts at cultivating relationships between various shinobi; or simply a night out with his drinking buddies, the ever-Youthful Maito Gai and the apathetic yet perverted Hatake Kakashi; nevertheless, it never ended well.

Had the Hokage been omniscient, he would've assigned him a mission quicker than Mitasuri Anko can polish off a stick of dango. Today, though, the Sandaime had just been lucky enough to get a situation landing on his desk only suitable for one man.

"Suzaku-san, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to travel to the country of Wave, where you will provide support for Hatake Kakashi and his team of genin."

"Must be bad to get Kakashi to ask for back-up," Ryu mused. Sarutobi nodded the affirmative.

"It seems that the mission had been lied about, and given a lower rank than necessary. The prospect of genin fresh out of the academy facing a Swordsman of the Mist didn't appeal to him, so he sent a message back here." Ryu's eyes widened as the Sandaime nodded solemnly. He took a drag from his pipe and then continued.

"Of course, the situation could deteriorate quite swiftly, so I'll be expecting you to get there as soon as possible. This has been classed as an..." The Hokage looked up to see a swinging door and an empty office.

"...A-Rank mission," he finished weakly, before turning back to his pile of paperwork with a sigh.

Why couldn't that boy have run in the direction of Suna, instead?

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto, number one surprising ninja of Konoha, rubbed the crust from his eyes as he regained his bearings. Last thing he remembered, he was talking to some girl… guy… that was prettier than Sakura-chan. Speaking of which, where could everyone be? The sun seemed a bit higher in the sky than when he usually woke up, and Sakura-chan would've woken him...

Was that a scream?

Naruto rushed to the stairs, watching Tsunami and her irritating brat of a son fight for their lives. At the moment he saw his opening, he leapt into action, vaulting the banister and landing an absolutely sweet flying kick right off the yakuza's oversized forehead. A couple of Kage Bunshins later, and the other guy had joined his partner on the floor. As he got Shadow Clones to tie the bandits up, and basked in the praise of his hosts, he failed to see that he was being watched.

"Not bad, kid."

Naruto suddenly looked up to see a man in lots and lots of dark blue leather, yellow gloves and knee high boots, and a red scarf and helmet. Oh, and…

"Hey, Captain Fabulous!" He yelled, getting into a fighting stance. "Why only one shoulder pad?!"

* * *

The one thing Ryu Suzaku had never grown out of was rushing into things. It had only got worse as he grew older, as the intensive training he had not only gifted him with a superhuman top speed and acceleration a Ferrari would sell its back wheels for, but gave him the tendency to dash off without all the information, unless he was tied down and told to.

This was a prime example.

As he arrived in Wave two days after his mission assignment, he had no clue what, who or exactly where he was searching for. All he knew was that he was looking for Kakashi, and the odds of finding him in such a large area were slim. Thus, he decided that the best course of action would be to head to the first source of trouble, and work from there.

A woman's scream brought him to the front of a modest looking house, although he wasn't entirely needed.

What he saw was a kid wearing a colour Ryu would come to dub 'Suicidal Orange' beat on a couple of thugs with Shadow Clones (how the hell did a kid this young do Shadow Clones? He had to be the rookie of the year). The kid's style made Ryu smile, not because of his polished taijutsu (OK, not rookie of the year, then); it was just the use of creative angles, and aerial attacks. Lots and lots of them.

Including a beautiful kick that could give Gai's 'Dynamic Entry' a run for its money.

Ryu decided to make himself known before the gaki's ego left him top heavy, and though he acted overly suspicious, the kid's question left him off guard, so he laughed.

"Gaki, look closer at my scarf. We're both shinobi from Konoha, so you can stop playing ninja, eh?"

"Who says I was _playing_ ninja! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to be Hokage, believe it!"

Ryu blinked for a second, before chuckling. So this was the demon brat he had heard so much about. He seemed a little brash, but not so bad, really. Needed to be taken down a few pegs, though.

"Did you just say 'believe it'?"

"Yeah!"

"No one's gonna take a Hokage who finishes his sentences with 'believe it!'"

"What would you know?"

"More than you think, kid. I'm assuming your sensei is Hatake, huh?"

"You mean Kakashi-sensei? Yeah!"

"Where is the lazy teme, then?"

Ryu didn't know it, but from this moment on, he had a follower for life. Naruto, had his priorities straight, however, and he made a constipated face which Ryu assumed meant he was thinking, before he swore he could see the light bulb go off above the genin's head.

"He said they'd be at the bridge!"

"Oh, that thing? OK, kid," he barked, grabbing Naruto's collar. "We'd best be off then. Am I facing in the right direction?"

"Actually," Tsunami interjected, "it's due north."

"Thanks beautiful." Tsunami blushed, making Ryu wonder how much male attention she must get on a regular basis. "Alright, Tony the Tiger, let's go!"

"Wait, who's Tony the… WAHHH!"

The two shinobi disappeared, leaving Inari and his speechless mother behind them.

"What just happened?" Inari asked, looking up at Tsunami. Watching his mother 's glazed look accented with a small blush made him cut his losses and head off to gather the rest of the villagers.

After all, he had a resistance to organise!

* * *

Zabuza looked on as the emo kid destroyed his mizu bunshin in almost no time at all. This, of course, amused him. Addressing his partner, he began to chuckle.

"Looks like you got a rival in speed, eh? Why don't you take on…"

A fair amount of wind-based chakra to whipped around everyone, and cleared the mist that had formed. Taking advantage of the stunned silence, the new arrival addressed Zabuza.

"Rival in speed, huh? I've seen faster pensioners." Which was true, but people didn't need to know that they were in vehicles built to push the sound barrier. "You haven't seen true speed until you've met yours truly."

All watching saw the newcomer drop Naruto abruptly ("Hey!" he whined) and simply flicker for less than a second. The only tip-off that he had moved beyond a muscle spasm was the massive grin on his face.

Oh, and the hunter-nin mask he now spun around his finger.

"See?" Ryu asked innocently.

Instantly, the hunter-nin touched his face in desperation to find that yes, the stranger had blown his cover.

Kakashi, using the same cunning that had got him through a Shinobi War, decided to get control of the situation.

"Ryu," he greeted happily, "what the hell took you so long?"

Ryu's eye twitched. A two day journey in a few hours, and this was how he was treated?

"Saving your ass, teme," he ground out in reply. "As always."

"Well, at least you're here now," Kakashi said, pulling up his forehead protector. "We'll take Zabuza, while Sasuke and Naruto, you can deal with our hunter-nin friend. Sakura, you stand guard over Tazuna, ok?"

Sasuke grunted in reply while Sakura gave an enthusiastic "Hai!"

Kakashi paused for a second. Shouldn't there be two enthusiastic responses? He decided not to dwell on that.

After all, there was no way it could cause problems in the long run.

* * *

Naruto stared.

Haku stared back.

This epic battle raged on for several minutes before the deadlock was broken.

"Why?" Naruto managed to choke out.

Haku's solemn smile echoed the pain that was in his adversary's voice.

"I did what I had to," Haku replied. "I am merely Zabuza's tool, ready to him to employ whenever he needs me to."

"We don't have to fight, you know," Naruto pleaded, hope tingeing his voice.

"Zabuza has asked me to act here, so I will act. I'm sorry, Naruto."

They both then leapt into action for round two.

* * *

"So, I see the infamous Sharingan Kakashi had to ask for back-up," Zabuza growled. "Not that I don't know who you are though: the Blue Falcon, said to be the fastest nin since the Yellow Flash himself. I'm almost flattered that Konoha would use such quality on little old me."

"Don't flatter yourself: I was the only one fast enough to get here in time," Ryu replied. "As for my identity, what was it that tipped you off? Was it the trick I played on your protégé? Or perhaps it was the large falcon emblem I have printed on the back of my blue leather jacket?"

Zabuza ignored that jibe. "However, your presence here has thrown my plan off a bit, which is quite annoying for me."

"No plan survives contact with the enemy," Kakashi responded.

"And neither of you are going to survive contact with this one," Zabuza yelled. With that, all three rushed in for close contact, Zabuza, swinging his zanbatou in a wide arc before his opponents could get too near to him. While Kakashi leapt back to avoid the swipe, Ryu ducked and went in for close combat. Their roles established, the battle could begin in earnest.

Later on, Hatake Kakashi would say that the mid-battle banter was the funniest thing he had seen since Yuugao and Hayate had overreacted to Gai's wish to 'share his Springtime of Youth' with them.

At this moment however, the Copy-nin was more preoccupied by the fact that their opponent was one of the most bloodthirsty individuals ever to walk the elemental countries. His Sharingan watched intently for any ninjutsu that may be employed by the missing-nin, while inadvertently recording the back and forth between the two.

"So," the extra man began to ask casually, "what's with the sword? I mean, not that it's not nice. It's just the size that bothers me. A bit impractical, ain't it?"

"I've never had any problems with it, to be honest," Zabuza replied, rather amicably for one trying to behead his conversationalist.

"I'm sure…" Ryu mused sceptically, augmenting a triple kick combo with wind chakra. "So, compensating for something?"

"Nope," Zabuza answered with all the practice of having been goaded this way before. "Just advertising."

"Ah, touché."

* * *

Back in Konoha, Umino Iruka subconsciously let off a quick burst of killing intent. This wouldn't have been a problem on most occasions, but he was asking Ayame the ramen-stand girl out.

"Dammit," he groaned as she ran away from the scary ninja.

The incident would set back their relationship for several months.

"I'm sure you feel plenty adequate, Zabuza," Ryu allowed, peppering Zabuza's personal space with punches. "I mean, your little friend doesn't seem to have any complaints. She's, what, 14, 15? You must be really proud of yourself."

"She," his opponent ground out, "is a he."

"Oh, so it's like that? That's cool. Hey, you haven't met a guy called Orochimaru out on your travels, have you? Cos you two sure would have a lot to bond over…"

"Fool, me and Haku aren't like that!" Zabuza denied a little too loudly.

"Haku and I. And it's unrequited? That's sweet. You should tell him though. I'm sure he'll? She'll? Whatever. Haku will be understanding about it."

Zabuza growled in frustration while leaping back, went through a few hand signs and yelled out, "We'll see if you have time to try and mock me after this! _Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"_

Said water dragon soared up from beneath the bridge, before smashing down onto where Ryu had stood moments before. Unfortunately, he didn't get far enough, and the tide of water swept him away. However, never let it be said that Ryu Suzaku was taken down easily, as he rose from the tide of water looking just as annoyed as Zabuza had been by his pointless banter.

"You have no idea," Ryu said calmly, "How much that jacket cost. And," he added, "You don't know what water does to leather. Let me enlighten you: it ruins it, you bastard. Show me your moves!"

Ryu then disappeared from normal sight. Zabuza, correctly assuming that his enemy was heading straight for him, quickly swung his sword in a wide arc; he was hoping to take off an arm, at least. Zabuza was not expecting Ryu to leap upwards, spring off his sword and thrust a flying kick downwards.

"FALCON KICK!"

The aim was true, as wind and fire energy engulfed his foot, and soon after Zabuza's face. But instead of blood and the odd piece of brain, all that was left was a puddle of water.

"Well, shit," Ryu murmured worriedly.

He instantly searched for something useless to kawarimi with: Haku's mask, a large granite block, the pink-haired kunoichi…

Wait, what was that second one?

Ryu made the switch with little time to spare, with the Demon of the Mist impaling building equipment instead of Ryu's admittedly mortal flesh. He was alive, but at the cost of most of his chakra.

All Kakashi saw was a missing-nin that tried to kill his team and one of his best friends now trying to desperately pull his trump card out of a slab of rock.

His hand signs finished. The chirping of birds filled the air.

* * *

Meanwhile, Haku was getting steadily more annoyed with this battle. One of the genin here would've been a slight challenge: the dark haired one was definitely a polished shinobi for his age, and his Katon jutsu were a natural counter to his ice needles. Naruto-kun's lack of skill was made up for by enthusiasm and sheer stamina; underlined with his use of waves upon waves of solid Clones that just wouldn't stop coming. The mournful faces of a betrayed friend on each clone just made it that much more difficult to deal with.

He didn't want to fight him either, but the quickest way to end this was to finish them off.

Haku herded the two genin together with real senbon, and before they could realise what his plan was, he called out the technique that he thought would end the battle.

"_Makyou Hyonshou!"_

The oh-so-familiar dome formed around the boys and Haku paused for a second, regret glinting in his eyes.

"I truly am sorry it had to end this way, Naruto-kun. But I am Zabuza's tool, and if he requires me to beat you," Haku sighed, and then his gaze hardened. "So be it."

As he began to move from mirror to mirror, Haku took the small consolation that despite their shaky start, everything seemed to be going to plan.

* * *

Amongst the shinobi of Konoha, it is known that Ryu Suzaku had rather small chakra reserves. He did make up for it with ridiculously good chakra control, but the fact of the matter was that if he got surprised, he threw too much chakra into a technique, and he would, theoretically, be in trouble.

His last minute kawarimi, on top of his use of chakra to augment his already impressive speed to get to Wave, had taken its toll.

However, low chakra levels were something he did not worry about too much. After all, he had another power source. A power source that was almost a natural counter to the ominous ice prison he had just seen the genin trapped in.

Ryu wasted no time, charging up his attack mid-leap, aiming for the ice sheet closest to him. He thought nothing of the fact that he could see his reflection before calling his attack.

"FALCON…!"

Zabuza was pissed. His weapon was imbedded into this block, and seemed not to want to come out. Sure, his sword was not sentient like Kisame's was, but he had tried everything, and the sword just refused to budge. In frustration,he channelled his chakra into his blade and swung it in an arc. If that didn't do the trick, nothing would.

It didn't.

However, the A-rank ration jutsu attached to Hatake Kakashi did. And any ninja worth his salt knows that Doton and Raiton don't mix.

* * *

Sakura was scared.

All she had seen were two battles: one was with Kakashi-sensei and his friend against Zabuza, and the other were Naruto and Sasuke-kun against that female hunter-nin. Naruto seemed to know her, though, which couldn't be right…

That was the least of her worries now, though, because things had just started to explode, and she couldn't see what was going on! She hoped Kakashi-sensei was fine, as well as Sasuke-kun! And Naruto no baka as well, she guessed.

As the smoke from the explosions cleared, she held her breath, bracing herself for the worst…

Only to see five ninja trying to shake their disorientation away. She sighed in relief, only to feel Tazuna tense behind her.

"Crap…" he murmured despondently.

"What's the matter, Tazuna-san?" Sakura enquired politely.

"Gatou…" he gasped, gesturing to the businessman and the small army of ronin that accompanied him.

Sakura was way beyond scared now. This was hella worse than a couple of explosions!


End file.
